It’s Time for the Soap Opera to End
Yankees Need to Rid Selves of A-Rod




By: Russ Rose
Special to Yankees Talk Shop
Sunday, October 8, 2006

There’s no other way to say it. Alex Rodriguez needs to go.

In what should have had a storybook ending, turned out to be a horror story. Alex Rodriguez, a New York City boy, came home three years ago purportedly to help the New York Yankees win a few World Series trophies and to finish his career in pinstripes. The first task never manifested itself and the second is no longer a reality.

Baseball’s biggest drama queen has worn his welcome out in the Bronx. Rodriguez has been a monumental post-season bust. His regular season output looks good on paper, but when you delve deeper into when he puts those numbers up his accomplishments are as pale as an autumn full moon.

In 2006 alone Rodriguez possessed a .302 average with men in scoring position. In 189 at bats he had 57 hits – including 10 home runs- to go along with 50 strikeouts (26% of at bats) and 85 RBIs. Not bad you say. However, looking a little closer at the numbers crunch when it was the seventh inning or later and the Yankees led by at least a run, tied or had the tying run aboard Rodriguez was batting .237 in 76 at bats with 18 hits – including two home runs – with 22 strikeouts (29% of at bats) and 14 RBIs.

Compare that to Derek Jeter in those same situations. With runners in scoring position Jeter hit .381 in 155 at bats. He had 59 hits – with six home runs – and had struck out only 29 times (19% of at bats) with 83 RBIs. When the game was in the seventh inning and New York led by a run, is tied or had the tying run aboard Jeter had a .325 average in 83 at bats. He has 27 hits – including 2 home runs – to go along with 18 strikeouts (22% of at bats) with 18 RBIs.

Jeter spent most of the season batting in the two-hole while Rodriguez batted clean up. Who would you rather have hitting in a critical situation?

The playoff numbers in the ALDS over the past two years are even more telling. In five games versus the Los Angeles Angels in 2005, A-Rod, in 15 at bats, hit .133 with five strikeouts and no RBIs. His fielding error on a routine bouncer in the fifth inning of Game 2 opened the door for the Angels who came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Yankees to split the first two games in Anaheim. The Angels eventually won the series in five games to send New York into another bleak off-season.

And what was A-Rod’s summation of his brutal series? “I stunk, and “I played like a dog.”

The 2006 season was supposed to be a season of redemption. It was supposed to be a year where Rodriguez was expected to show the baseball world he was truly deserving of the 2005 MVP award, and that his performance in the ALDS was a fluke. That Alex Rodriguez was a mirage. Was it really?

Rodriguez’s overall numbers were down from 2005. Last year A-Rod batted .321 with 48 home runs and 130 RBIs. Those numbers vaulted him over Boston’s David Ortiz to earn him a second MVP award. This year Rodriguez had a .290 average with 35 home runs and 121 RBIs. He led the team in RBIs and finished second to Jason Giambi (37) in home runs. If you were to look at just those raw numbers most every player in the league would give their eye teeth to have a line like that. If you play for the Pittsburgh Pirates those numbers would be o.k. In New York they don’t impress anyone.

The bottom line, when you play for the New York Yankees, is timely production. Hitting a walk off grand slam in the ninth inning in the rain to win a game for your team gains you a legendary footnote in New York baseball lore. Hitting a home run when your team is either nine runs down or nine runs ahead gets you a great big yawn. For Alex Rodriguez those are the type of situations that stand out. All too often New York saw a man with all the talent in the world go up to the plate only to come back to the dugout without making a difference in the game.

Not only did Rodriguez hurt his team with his lack of timely production, but he hurt them in the field as well. Rodriguez recorded 24 errors during the season, the most he had registered since 1997 when he committed 24 miscues. It was the most errors logged by an AL third baseman this year.

A-Rod knew going into the 2006 season what was expected of him. He needed to perform when it counted. Unfortunately, more often than not he didn’t get it done. Manager Joe Torre tried to mollify his beleaguered third baseman without results. Rodriguez was cracking under the constant pressure of booing from the home crowd and the microscopic criticisms of the New York press. It got so bad that ex-Mayor Rudy Giuliani felt compelled to come out in defense of A-Rod and asked the fans to cut Rodriguez some slack. Mike Mussina and other Yankees did the same.

Curiously, team captain Derek Jeter didn’t come to A-Rod’s defense. He said it wasn’t his place to tell the fans who to cheer for or boo, and it wasn’t his place to tell the press what to write. That was an odd stance from a man who shielded Jason Giambi when everyone wanted to run Giambi out of New York on a rail when he admitted he used performance enhancing drugs.

What made matters worse was a recently published Sports Illustrated story by Tom Verducci that included several quotes by Rodriguez and others by his teammates regarding A-Rod’s constant need for being liked, as well as looking the part of Corporate America’s poster boy. The article painted Rodriguez as a narcissist who constantly points to his stats rather than seeing big picture of helping his team when it counts. When things got tough Rodriguez put on his rose colored glasses and pretended everything was all right. Torre among others on the team tried different approaches to motivate him out of his complacency. Nothing seemed to work for very long. Oh sure, he kept putting up those pretty numbers, but how many hits and RBIs came at a time when someone needed to turn a game around?

Rodriguez responded to teammates comments with some of his own, which apparently got him into hot water.

"Mussina doesn't get hammered at all," Rodriguez was quoted as saying. "He's making a boatload of money. Giambi's making ($20.4 million), which is fine and dandy, but it seems those guys get a pass. When people write (bad things) about me, I don't know if it's (because) I'm good-looking, I'm biracial, I make the most money, I play on the most popular team."

After the article hit the newsstands Rodriguez went on to give everyone the silent treatment. "I'm done talking," he said. "Obviously, talking is not a good thing around here. I'm done sharing my thoughts."

However, as the Yankees were entering into the playoffs A-Rod was getting more ink for how he needed to perform in the post-season, rather than his team which had secured its ninth straight division title.

When Torre penciled in his line up card for Game 1 of the divisional series against the Detroit Tigers A-Rod was batting sixth and not fourth in the order. It was a clear signal from Torre to Rodriguez he didn’t trust that A-Rod could be counted on in the clutch. Torre was proven right.

Although the Yankees scored eight runs in the game, not one of them was generated by A-Rod. He went 1-for-4 with no RBIs and left three men on base.

It turned out Game 1 was Rodriguez’s best offensive output of the series.

In Game 2 A-Rod was 0-for-4 with no RBIs.

At a loss as to what to do to kick start his third baseman; Torre placed A-Rod back into his customary cleanup spot in the batting order for Game 3. The result was a 0-for-3 night.

Torre had had enough with Rodriguez. In Game 4 Torre basically told A-Rod he didn’t trust him in the clutch anymore by penciling him into the eight spot in the batting order. It was the first time since 1993 Rodriguez had batted so low in the lineup. How did he respond to this new challenge? Rodriguez had another 0-for-3 performance.

In the past two divisional series Rodriguez is 3-for-29 (.103) with zero runs batted in. Hardly the stuff $25 million ballplayers are made of.

Once again Rodriguez put on his rose colored glasses.

"I have no one to blame but myself," he said after the series ended. "I know I certainly have to do well for this team to win."

He won’t get the chance.

Alex Rodriguez is done in New York. For better or worse the experiment to bring him here is an official failure. The Yankees can ill afford to keep a man whom teammates don’t or won’t support and management who won’t ever again trust him with a bat in his hand when the game is on the line.

George Steinbrenner will demand Rodriguez’s trade and Brian Cashman will do everything in his power to see that A-Rod’s pinstripes are unceremoniously stripped off his back on his way out of town. Even if it means the Boss has to pay part of A-Rod’s salary a trade will get done.

Rodriguez probably won’t be alone on the rail he’ll be riding out of town. The New York Post reported Sunday that Steinbrenner will fire Torre and replace him with longtime favorite Lou Pinella.

Torre earned his ticket out of the Bronx. The Yankees haven’t won a World Series in six years. Torre’s tinkering with the lineup that got him to the playoffs probably helped cost New York their appearance in the American League Championship Series. Torre whose moves were once considered genius are now considered ineffectual. He was given whatever he needed to win the World Series and the Yankees early exit from the playoffs will be the final nail in Torre’s coffin.

If this is to be Torre’s swan song the City of New York should be grateful for having Clueless Joe for 11 years. Without him the Yankees wouldn’t have had the success they did in his early managerial years. With him the Yankees have languished in his latter years. It’s not all Joe’s fault. The Yankee brain trust has to take a huge slice of the failure over the past six years.

If Pinella does become the new manager he has quite an act to follow. I wish Sweet Lou a lot of good luck in filling Torre’s shoes. It won’t be easy.



© 2006 Yankees Talk Shop @ ezboard.com

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